Thanks for the reply, but that is not the one. The one I am thinking about is only about five pages long. The set up was perfect, as one could infer what the consequences were for a ‘fail’, but then the twist at the end with the elevation of mediocrity above excellence was perfect, and entirely too plausible.
It sounds great; I wish I could track it down. I’m going to see a writer friend on Sat. I’ll ask him about it.
On the general topic. In fourth grade my witch teacher decided to divide the class into two halves, smart and stupid. She put me on the stupid side. Years later I was given the results of my IQ test: just over the threshold of genius. Even that didn’t completely overcome the negative impression that ghastly teacher’s bright idea left me with.